The Burdens of the Past
by hungrycookiemoster
Summary: Nephilims have been able to disguise themselves from society for years. To anyone else, they are just normal people who are on the rather tall side. Except for a scar that harbors their left wrist. The same scar Nora seems to have in common with them...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Although I wished I owned these marvelous characters...sadly I do not :(****These characters belong to Becca Fitzpatrick.**

**Caution: The first chapter gets a bit violent at the end so keep that in mind. I promise, it wouldn't be this crazy for the remaining chapters.**

******I'm in the process of also writing two stories about Vampire Academy series. This is my first with the Hush, Hush series. I hope you like it. :)**

**Updated: I corrected a few of my errors. The story is officially perfect. **

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1998

Looking out the window in front of me, I focused on the brightly lit buildings and the pedestrians we passed by on our way to the house. It was still fairly early in the morning so I couldn't help myself but to be surprised at the vast majority of people still walking the streets at this time of hour. I had heard that this is what city life was like but growing up in a small town, you never really imagine it to be anything like this. I guess it was true what people say, New Yorkers' never sleep.

It was the sound of someone coughing that interrupted my thoughts and brought me back to reality. Looking around the jeep, I saw about twenty men of all ages packed together in the back of this small van. To the right of me, was my old friend. He was the reason for my participation in this mission. A few hours ago, I received an unusual phone call from him. At first, I thought that it may have been my mother, who had been diagnosed recently with an early case of Alzheimer's. However, when the calls persisted, I knew something was wrong.

From the sound of his voice on the phone, I knew instantly he was in trouble. He was always a strong willed man who was always willing to provide wisdom and strength to his friends. So when he asked me to help him out, my response was immediate. If he was in trouble, I would do anything in my power to help him.

"Is everybody clear on the mission?" I heard a man ask from the front seat of the van. From the sound of authority in his voice, I assumed he must be the leader of the Nephilim's secret society.

To be honest, I wasn't entirely sure what kind of mission I had been recruited for. When I arrived at the meeting location, there hadn't been much time to discuss what exactly would be going on tonight. I was simply told to board the van and that we would reach on destination in about two hours.

Looking around at the other men to ensure that none of them held my attention, I leaned in towards my friend, "Where are we going?" I whispered.

Turning his head towards me but refusing to make eye contact he responded in a whisper, "When we get there, stay in the van. Your purpose is not to fight in this mission."

"Fight?" I asked surprised barely maintaining a whisper.

After what seemed like forever, he finally looked up to meet my eyes.

Focusing on his swollen sleepless eyes, I was unprepared for his next statement, "I did something awful." He said hunching over and covering his hands over his face. "Unforgivable." I heard him mummer into his hands. "But I have to make it right." He spoke returning his eyes back to mine. "For her sake."

It looked as if he wished to say more but we were interrupted as the van came to a stop on a neighborhood street.

Getting up from the front seat, the leader bent over and walked to the back of the van by the doors and then turned around to address his men. "We've done this before, men. Go in as a team. Secure our target and then get out. The big target is our main focus. She needs to be apprehended by any means necessary. She'll fight. By golly, she will tear your head off the second we get in there so you need to act fast and be smart." Hesitating briefly to smile at what seemed to be hidden joke, he continued. "We have all handled her kind before. You all sit here before me today because you've won. Let's win one more time."

"We'll get the little girl too. Make sure she's safe." My friend asked beside me.

Turning his head to look at my friend, I saw the leader's face turn to disgust. "Yes, we will take care of your little problem."

"No. I'll take care of her." My friend said quietly next to me. "Nobody dare touch her!" He exclaimed now addressing every man in the van.

"Fine." The leader said to my friend without looking at him. "Alright boys, let's go!" He said to the rest of the men in the van just as he pushed open the doors for everyone to jump out.

As I watched the men file out of the van howling and grunting in anticipation, I couldn't help but wonder what exactly I got myself into. Turning to my friend who had remained in the van with me, I asked, "What is going on? I have been patient enough. We're in a neighborhood." I said stopping to point outside the window. "What business do these men have storming out of the van at this time of hour in a neighborhood? What are they planning to do? Please tell me they aren't going to hurt anyone!"

"No they aren't going to hurt anyone." He responded without looking at me.

"You're being too vague. I deserve answers!" I demanded now loosing the patience I once had.

"I made a mistake! I did something bad and now I have to deal with the consequences. This is it." He responded waving his hands in the air.

"What did you do?" I asked now regaining some of the patience I lost before. I could see that my friend was in pain. If I was to reach him, it would have to be through kindness.

"I slept with the enemy!" My friend said just before he leaped out of the van to join the rest of the men.

_Slept with the enemy_? What could he have meant when he said that? True, his friend was quite the player. During our time rooming together at college, there had been many girls who took a particular interest in his friend and were upset when they were discarded for another more beautiful girl. The girls who tried to win his friend's attention back then were always given the titles "crazy, stalker, _enemy._" However, it was the way his friend spoke this time that caught his attention. He had slept with the _enemy_.

Suddenly, everything started to fall into place. These men were here to fix his friend's problem. The problem being that his friend had slept with some girl, who was now seen as the _enemy_.

The more I sat here waiting for the men to return, the more uneasy I became. Surely they wouldn't hurt this girl, would they?

Before I gave it another thought, I was already jumping out of the van and running in the direction I had seen my friend and the men run just minutes ago. If my friend came here to murder this girl, I was going to stop him by any means necessary.

Running down the street of the neighborhood, I continued to look side to side for any sign that would lead me to where the others may have gone. It was around 5am and I knew the sun would be rising in about an hour. Whatever those men came here to do, I hope they took into account that the neighborhood people would be getting out of bed soon. In few hours, children would be coming out to wait for the school bus.

The thought of children witnessing what these men were about to do sent fear ripping though me. Could my friend and those men really have come here to murder a woman? It can't be.

"I told you to stay in the van!" I heard the sound of my friend's voice say just as he tackled me to the grass.

"Please tell me you didn't come here to kill that woman!" I shouted back trying to pry myself out of his arms.

"Woman? She is not a woman. She is the _enemy_!" My friend shouted back at me.

Looking up at the house only yards away, I realized that someone in the house could hear us. The people in the house would surely come out and want to investigate what was going on. Fearing what would happen to them if they did, I lowered my voice.

"Look, you don't have to do this. Let's talk about this." I said trying to reason with my long time friend.

"We can't." He said moving off me to stand up and continue walking down the street.

Standing up and running to catch up to him, I grabbed his shoulder and forced him to stop and turn to me.

"Don't do this. I beg of you. Think of-."

"I am. I need to make this better for her." He responded shoving my hand off of him and turning away from me. "She was so sad after-" He said, his voice stopping before he could finish the sentence. Turning back to look me in the eyes, he said, "I can make this right. I can give her back what she lost."

"Are you talking about the-?" I asked but before I could finish my sentence, my friend was already charging down the street.

Not wasting any time, I continued after him in pursuit to find the answers I now needed to know.

As I chased after my friend who was more physically fit, and therefore faster but all means, I found myself tormented at the thought of what I would find at the end of this chase. Would I find a dead body? What would I do if this was the case?

So consumed in my own thoughts, I wasn't aware that my friend had stopped until I came crashing into him. He, who was always known for being stable on his feet, acted as if nothing had happened. I, on the other hand, was forced backwards on to the ground behind me. Looking up at the house before us, I saw that all the lights were on and I could hear strange noises from the inside. From the sound of it, it was as if things were being thrown around from the inside.

"What is going on?" I asked my friend who was staring at the house before us in disbelief but before he could answer, there was the faint sound of a child screaming from inside the house.

The sound was like an alarm that shocked my friend back to reality and he began running towards the front door, slamming it open to disappear into the house.

Not wanting to be left behind, I followed after him.

Stepping inside the house, I found broken glass and the dining room table split apart as if someone was thrown against it violently. I also heard the sound of grunts and things breaking from upstairs, which proved that a fight was indeed happening just as I thought. Hoping to relinquish any ideas my friend had at his involvement in this plan, I took off up the stairs to where the action was.

When I arrived at the top of the stairs, I was greeted by one of the men who I had been riding in the van with me.

"We got her," He said smiling with relief as he patted me on the shoulder before walking down the stairs.

"Got who?" I turned around to ask him.

"The fallen. We took her down moments before. We're about to move her any minute now." He said pointing to the door where the most noise was coming from.

"The fallen?" I asked him but before he could respond, I heard the little girl's screams again and immediately started to run down the hallway to where the screams where coming from.

Opening the door, I was taken back but what I saw. The room appeared to be one that a little girl would have. The walls were covered in pink flower wallpaper with white unicorns and posters of what appeared to be of a cartoon show I was unfamiliar with. I also found girl-like toys spread out throughout the room in chaos as if someone had torn the room apart.

"What happened here?" I asked the man who I saw step through the joining bathroom into the room I was in.

"It's a shame." He said looking around the room. "We moved the creature into the other room but she followed us." He said turning towards the joining bathroom.

Hearing the little girl scream again, I decided it was time to figure out what was going on in the other room.

Cautiously, walking through the bathroom to prepare myself for what I would see on the other side, I stepped though and found many of the men from the van surrounding the master bed where there appeared to be a person fighting for control. I could hear her cursing in a language unfamiliar to me.

"Mommy! Please…I'm scared mommy!" I heard the little girl scream from the other side of the room.

Focusing on the little girl now, I saw her on her knees on the ground by the dresser crying, the messy curly reddish-brown hair sticking to her face from the tears. I also noticed that she was dressed in pink Barbie pajamas. From the looks of her, it appeared that she had been awoken from bed during this attack.

I was about to approach her when one of the men covering the woman suddenly lunched backwards.

"We're losing her!" I heard one of the men shout just as the woman got the upper hand and began to free herself from their grasp.

"Hannah!" The woman shouted as she broke free and began to run towards the child.

Looking at the woman as she raced past me, I saw that she too had curly brown hair only hers was in messy ponytail due to the fight. She was also wearing what appeared to have once been a tank top and sweat pants but where not completely shredded exposing almost all of her top half.

Hearing the call of her mother, the little girl jumped up and began to run to her arms open.

That was when the sound of a gun exploded into the room.

It was so loud and unexpected that I dropped to the ground instantly. Looking up, I saw the woman fall to the ground on her back before her daughter with her head covered in blood. The woman had been shot in the head.

Turning my head to the shooter, I saw the leader of the Nephilim's secret society looking at the woman smiling.

However, it was the little girl that ultimately grabbed my attention. In the time I had taken to access the situation with the shooter, the little girl had crawled to her mother and was now holding her shaking her to wake up.

"Mommy?" The little girl asked crying.

"Get the child!" The leader screamed.

From the left of me, I saw my friend run over and lift the little girl into his arms and walk out of the bedroom with her as the child screamed and struggled against his grip.

Before following out the door after my friend, I took one last look at the woman in disbelief. The woman had now been positioned on her stomach and on her back, where her tank top had been shredded, was a long "V" shaped scar.

Figuring I couldn't do anything until I got the answers from my friend, I quickly hurried after him.

By the time I got outside, my friend was making his way to a car that was now stationed outside the house.

"What is going?" I demanded trying to keep my voice down.

Turning to face me, I saw that my friend had now placed his hand over the child's mouth to prevent her from screaming and alarming the neighbors.

"Listen." My friend spoke to me with urgency in his voice. "I have always been there for you. Anything you needed, I was there. I need something of you tonight."

"What is it?" I asked still focused on the child whose tears still leaked from her eyes.

"I need you to take this child." He said.

"Whose child is that? What you did…back there…" I said incoherently as I tried to get a grip on what exactly happened back in the house and what my friend now was asking me to do.

Balancing the child in one arm, my friend opened the backseat door and placed her in there, shutting it before turning back to me.

"She is my daughter. The thing you saw back there is a fallen angel. I know this sounds crazy but it's true." My friend said to me in a low voice. Looking around the front yard to ensure no one was listening, he took a step closer to me and continued, "Look, they will kill her. I broke the rules. I slept with a fallen angel. They won't forgive it. I need you to take her. Raise her as your own. With my girlfriend. "

"Your girlfriend?" I asked confused by everything he was asking of me.

"It was my fault that night. I didn't know she was 'taken over'." He said allowing his emotions to slip.

"She was so excited about the pregnancy but I knew the fallen angel would come back for her child. They have a strong connection to their children, you know."

"You said she lost the child." I asked confused.

"No. The baby was taken." My friend said looking me in the eye. "I thought it was for the best. This child, "He said looking over his shoulder at the girl in the car. "She is tainted. I thought it would be best if she was raised by her own kind."

"Then why take her away? Why all of this?" I asked trying to figure out what was the meaning of this night.

"The others found out. Chauncey found out. That little girl may be tainted but she is still my daughter. I wanted her to live" He replied.

"I think you're crazy." I said."You want me to take your girlfriend and raise this child as my own because her mother is an angel or whatever."

"Not an angel. A fallen angel." He replied immediately.

"Whatever. This is insane. You're going to jail for this you know." I said raising my hands in defeat.

"Listen, I'll tell you everything. You need to go now. There isn't much time. Please," He pleaded with me.

Looking at the child in the car, I felt a mix of emotions. I didn't know this child but yet as I stood here watching her helplessly, I felt obligated to protect her by any means necessary. If I didn't who would?

"Okay." I said never letting my eyes leave the child.

"Thank you." My friend replied relieved.

"You will explain everything." I reminded him as I walked over to the driver's side of the car.

"Harrison, you have to leave everything. Your house…your family. Tonight. " He said looking at the house behind him nervously as if to make sure no one was overhearing our conversation.

" What?" I asked surprised. "I can't leave my mother. You know she has Alzheimer.

"I will look over her. I promise you. I'm in debt to you."

Refusing to think of this, I changed the subject. "Those men in the house…they will come after me" I asked.

"Everyone will come after you. People will come for her. You have to protect her." He said.

"What is her name? I think her mother called her Hannah." I said trying to remember.

"No. Not Hannah. Not anymore." He said know allowing himself to glaze his eyes over the child. "I don't care what you name her, Harrison. Just change the name."

"Hank, you owe me more than you'll ever know." I said before getting into the car and driving away.

Looking into the back seat as I turned off the street, I couldn't help but feel sorry for this child. In one night she had lost everything. Her mother…her house…her life. And yet, I too was now forced to leave everything behind. We were both strangers to our old lives now, forced to create new ones for survival.

"My mother's name is Nora," I told the little girl as she sniffled and wiped her nose off with her sleeve. "Do you like that name?" I asked her.

Nodding, the girl yawned and let herself lean up again the window.

"Nora, it is then." I said smiling as I watched the little girl drift off into a peacefully sleep.

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**Okay, let me know how you feel about it. :)**

**Thank you for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Dear Amazing Readers,**

**For the time being, I have decided to make this story a one shot. I did have plans to expand it into about twenty more chapter but it seems unplasible now with the dailey expectations in my life at the moment. If I do get a chance to write more chapters, it won't be for a very long time.**

**On the bright side, I feel a long waiting time is very reasonable since I haven't left the story on a cliffhanger. I like to think of the story I created as a prolouge for the events that happened in Hush, Hush, Crescendo, and now Silence. Thank goodness, my idea for this story hasn't been shot down by the new novel, Silence. Things can still work out the way I planned.**

**Thank you for being so patient,**

**hungrycookiemonster**

**As always, thank you for your continuing support. :)**


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